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The Pig
Who Wanted To Become
The King

"I shall become the king!" the young pig proclaimed to his parents.

Mother Pig smiled and looked at her son. "How do you
expect to become the king," she asked, "when you are, after all, a pig?"

"I don't care," said the young pig, "I am going to become
the king." And so, the young pig went into his mother's kitchen and packed himself
a lunch.

"I am leaving," he said "I am going to become the king."

"Good luck," said Father Pig "Come back and visit us soon."

And so the young pig left home. He walked and walked, over
hills and through valleys.

Soon it was lunchtime. Pig's stomach began grumbling as he
looked for a place to stop and eat. Suddenly, he heard the sound of someone
weeping. He looked to the left. He looked to the right. And there, just a little
farther up the road sat an old man, crying.

Pig walked up to the man and asked "Excuse me, sir, but why
are you sitting here and crying?"

"I am crying," the old man said, "because I am lost and hungry.
I went for a walk this morning, and lost my way, and I don't know the way home.
And I am so very, very hungry and I have no food to eat."

"Well, sir," answer Pig, "I have a lunch packed right here,
and I'm sure I have more than enough food for both you and me. You are welcome
to join me."

And the pig was right. There was enough food there for not
only Pig and the old man, but for several other people besides.

When they had finished eating, the old man said, "Excuse me
for asking, Pig, but where are you going?"

"I am going to become the king." answered Pig.

"Ah," said the old man, and he nodded thoughtfully. May
I come along?" he asked.

"Yes, you may." answered Pig.

And so they walked together. They walked and walked, over
hills and through valleys. Soon they came to a river. They walked along the
banks of the river, looking for a place to cross.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of someone weeping. They looked
to the left. They looked to the right. And there, just a little farther up the
road, sat another old man, crying softly.

Pig walked up to the man and asked "Excuse me, sir, but why
are you sitting here and crying?"

"I am crying," the old man said, "because I have lost my book.
I was walking along the river here, reading my book, and I wasn't looking where
I was going. I tripped over a rock and I fell, and my book fell in the river.
I can't swim, and I don't think I'll ever see my book again."

"I can help you," offered the Pig. "I can swim, and I
will get your book for you. Wait here with my friend, and I will be right back."

Pig jumped in the river. Brrrrrrr, the water was cold! He
took a deep breath. Then another deep breath. And then he took the deepest breath
he ever could and dove down to the bottom of the river. He swam and swam, and
just as his breath was about to give out, he spied the book.

Pig then swam back to the top of the water. He took a deep
breath. Then another deep breath. And then he took the deepest breath he ever
could, even deeper than the one before, and he dove back down to the bottom
of the river.

He swam and swam to where he had seen the book. His breath
was about to give out, when he reached it. He grabbed the book, and swam as
fast as he could back up to the top, just before his breath gave out.

He just made it! Pig swam to the river bank and climbed out.
He walked back to where the two old men were waiting and gave the old man his
book.

"Oh, thank you, Pig," said the old man. "I can't thank
you enough. But tell me, please, where are you off to?"

"I am going to become the king." answered Pig.

"Ahh," replied the old man, nodding thoughtfully. "May
I come along?" he inquired.

"Yes, you may." answered Pig.

And so the three of them together. They walked and walked,
over hills and through valleys. Soon they came to a deep, dark forest. They
took the path that led along the edge of the forest.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of someone weeping. They looked
to the left. They looked to the right, trying to find where the sound was coming
from. There, just a little farther up the road, sat an old man, weeping.

Pig walked up to the man and said "Excuse me, sir, but why
are you sitting here and crying?"

"I am crying" the old man said, "because I was walking here
at the edge of the forest with my dog and something terrible happened. My dog
is my best friend in the whole wide world, and an ogre jumped out from the trees
and grabbed him. He told me that he was going to eat him for breakfast tomorrow
morning. Now, I don't know what to do and I don't think I'll ever see my dog
again."

That WAS terrible. Pig said "Wait here with my two friends.
I'll see what I can do."

Pig ran into the deepest and darkest part of the forest, the
place where ogres like to live best of all. And sure enough, there was the ogre's
house.

Pig peeked in through the window. He saw the ogre was home,
but was fast asleep. And in the far corner, in a cage, was the poor dog, trembling
with fear.

Pig tiptoed to the front door, and quietly opened it. He tiptoed
in to the house and over to the cage.

"Be very quiet." he whispered to the dog, "I am here to rescue
you."

Pig opened the cage door as quietly as he could. Then he and
the dog tiptoed to the door. Once outside they ran as fast as they could to
where Pig had left the three old men .

But they weren't there!

Pig looked to the left. Then he looked to the right. Sure
enough, the three old men were gone!

Just ahead, Pig saw a campfire. "Perhaps whoever is there
could help me." he said to himself so off he went.

Sitting companionably around the fire were three wizards.
"Excuse me, but have you seen three old men?" asked Pig.

Welcome Pig," said one of the wizards. "We are the
three old men you seek."

"The old king has died and he has left
no heirs to the throne," explained the second.

"So we devised three tests, in order to find the next
king," continued the third wizard.

"One must know how to be generous in order to rule. You generously
shared your lunch with me, even though I was a stranger to you," the first wizard
said.

"A ruler's heart must be compassionate in order to rule well.
You didn't know me either, yet you rescued my book, because you knew it meant
a great deal to me. This shows me that you are full of compassion," said the
second.

"And bravery is a must for kings," said the third wizard.
"You risked your own life for the sake of another. You braved a ferocious ogre
in order to save the best friend of a perfect stranger," said the third.

"And so we are agreed," said the wizards. "You shall be king".

And that is how the pig became the king.

The Pig Who Wanted To Become The King by Joshua Brown - Copyright 1997 - All Rights Reserved

Professional Illustrations for this story are are being
prepared by Michael Paul. You can find examples of Michael's work on The
Sleepmaster. Interim graphics are from various sites around the web.
Our thanks to the respective creators for the brief loan of these charming images.

About the Author:

Joshua Brown lives in Israel, where he is working (as little
as possible) on his degree in computer science. He is also employed as webmaster
for a company that hopefully won't take too close a look at how much Josh fools
around at work. Josh loves little children, and thinks that a child's laughter
is one of, if not the most beautiful sounds in the world. You may reach
Josh Brown at : jbrown@macs.biu.ac.il